Keeping the comments a little shorter so we can cram a few more songs in than usual, this is our first bumper catch up of some really fine recent releases. In no particular order we present:
We have always loved the Moldy Peaches song "Anyone Else But You." The lyrics are so poetic and the song is so simple. Despite being so soft the performance has a punk ethos in its level of carefreeness. The vibe really captures our spirit and the lyrics deeply speak to our story of being friends, then romantic and then just friends again. In that way it also brings out the spirit/story of our most recent album Year of the Banana which is about enduring friendship in its various poetic snapshots of our cosmic collision.
It was a little challenging to figure out how we could bring something fresh to something so perfect without ruining it but we're happy with our added syncopations, percussion, trumpet and synthesizer. We also made sure to run it by our friend Adam Green who is one half of Moldy Peaches who said in response: "This is great!! Love the trumpet and the ethereal pads in the second half - you guys do it perfectly - I wouldn’t overthink it - the nature of the song is casual like this so it really works... You guys sound superb singing it." Thanks Adam!
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Mollie introduces herself: Hi there, my name is Mollie (aka doeyedfairie), and I am a singer and songwriter from the woods of Washington State’s Cascades.
To me, every melody is a tiny world that invites you in—an invitation to be both fierce and delicate, and to celebrate who you are, who you have been, and who you are becoming.
My music isn’t just for listening—it’s for wandering, for imagining, and for finding a piece of yourself in a place you’d forgotten. I hope my songs resonate with you!
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Lilly Hiatt will release Forever on January 31, 2025 via New West Records. The 9-song set is Hiatt’s first album in four years and was produced by her husband, Coley Hinson, and mixed by Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies, Hole).
Forever is a raw, unvarnished work of love and trust that walks the line between alt-rock muscle and singer-songwriter sensitivity. It is a bold, guitar-driven, exploration of maturity and adulthood that grapples with growth and change, escape and anxiety, self-loathing and self-love, and the songs are intensely vulnerable, full of diaristic snapshots.
Already met with critical acclaim, Uncut Magazine named it their “Americana Album of the Month,” exclaiming “Hiatt has rarely rocked harder than on Forever.” MOJO said “Stability and appreciation of life’s little victories have rarely sounded more delightful” while Nashville Lifestyles magazine said “Lilly Hiatt steps into the bold, punchy future on her fourth album, Forever…her creative re-awakening captures the excitement of a new start.”
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The Old Days is a story song about the narrator’s relationship with their father viewed through hazy nostalgia and both good times and bad. Years pass until the narrator has the ultimate realization that no matter how different they want to be, they’re still a lot like their parents.
Mojave Desert singer-songwriter Pat Kearns persists among the most recognizable voices in the high-desert folk-rock landscape, further cemented by winning the Joshua Tree Voice “Joshua” award for Best Make Vocal of 2023. Accompanied by artist/stylist/musician Susan Kearns on stand-up bass; together, they’re the Kearns Family: a wide-brimmed, steely-eyed duo embodying the traditions of ‘60s/70s outlaw/cosmic country with deep-rooted power-pop sensibilities.
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WILDES and St Francis Hotel just revealed the new track "In The Floodlight" - the final taste of new collaborative EP Kopfkino, out 19th February - which will feature the previously released title track and "Are You Gonna Speak?", released in December last year.
Together WILDES and St Francis Hotel bring with them a wealth of critical plaudits, and notable collaborations between them with acts including The Flaming Lips, Little Simz and Michael Kiwanuka.
For new EP Kopfkino, the pair delve into the mind's captivating power, exploring the spectrum of human experience from poignant introspection to exhilarating escapism, sonically noting the influence of 80s synth-pop bands such as Erasure, The Human League, and Depeche Mode, as well as trip-hop artists like Massive Attack and Portishead.
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Canadian singer-songwriter Lucette shares the relatably fatalistic new single “Heading for the End,” the latest from her upcoming EP Nice Girl From The Suburbs, which releases on March 21. This song finds Lucette living in the complexity of being human while still resisting people pleasing stereotypes. Singing “everytime it hurts, I’m heading for the end,” she exists both as someone experiencing the real feelings of pain, as well as an observer chiding her own tendency to catastrophize.
“Heading For The End” follows Lucette’s previous single, the pedal-steel-filled boot-stomper “Back in the Blue” featuring Mariel Buckley. Speaking about the new song, she explains, “‘Heading For The End’ is an extension on topics that I began to speak about on my last album. It’s a dark, sarcastic way of looking at my near melodramatic behavior when I feel low. Thinking that when I’m hurt, I’m heading for the end. Telling myself stories that probably aren’t true. Leaning into those feelings a bit too much at times.”
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Caroline Strickland is an alternative rock musician out of Brooklyn, NY. Her music revolves around themes of self actualization and realization, analyzing the tension between our arrogance and tenderness, how we fall in love and how we let go.
Driving guitar and smoked out vocals are highlighted with thecoccasional one-string lick or tap on the piano, a sparse style that somehow fills the void.
"Prettiest Girl of Heaven" is the new single from Caroline Strickland. It's the latest single off of their new EP, Martha's Calling, out March 7th.
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The song began as an instrumental piece, reflecting "the mysterious and glamorous life on the French Riviera," like a scene from a European spy film with "beautiful scenery, fast car chases, enchanting women, and the emptiness in the aftermath."
When Josef shared the idea with Christoffer, he was thrilled and wrote lyrics that ask: "What happens when the glamour is gone? What should one do with the void in your heart when all the lights are out? Is there more happiness beyond the next star?"
It’s a story of love at a crossroads. You’ve "played your cards and feel like there’s nothing more you can do." Stepping outside the "sparkling and color-filled casino of love," the world shifts to black and white—yet hope lingers that "your breakthrough lies beyond the next star."
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The Helsinki-based indie band Lala Salama will releasde their third and final single, Kuva Susta, last Friday, January 17, ahead of their debut album Miltähän me näytettäis yhdessä, set to drop on March 21, 2025. The album has already been introduced with two singles: the 2023 shoegaze hit Summer Love and the heartfelt Aurinko sulattaa mun pään. While the first two singles were intimate summer anthems, Kuva Susta is the perfect addition to winter’s melancholic playlists.
"‘Kuva Susta’ represents Lala Salama’s more sensitive side; it’s an emotional depiction of longing, memories of the past, and the difficulty of letting go," says the band’s singer and guitarist Rosa Jules.
Lala Salama: One of Finland's most promising indie bands: Lala Salama has quickly risen as one of Finland's most promising indie bands. The debut album’s first single, Summer Love, was released in 2023 and immediately gained international attention. The single topped the Hype Machine chartsand was the fourth most-played song of the year on Radio Helsinki. The British Clash Magazine praised it as an "ultra-catchy shoegaze anthem."
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